The Diolkos (Δίολκος, from the Greek διά, ''dia'' "across" and ὁλκός, ''holkos'' "portage") was a paved trackway near Corinth in Ancient Greece which enabled boats to be moved overland across the Isthmus of Corinth. The shortcut allowed ancient vessels to avoid the dangerous circumnavigation of the Peloponnese peninsula. The phrase "as fast as one from Corinth", penned by the popular comic playwright Aristophanes, indicates that the trackway was regarded as common knowledge and had acquired a certain reputation for swiftness.

The main function of the Diolkos was the transfer of goods, although in times of war it also became a preferred means of speeding up naval campaigns. The to long roadway was a rudimentary form of railway, The scale on which the Diolkos combined the two principles of the railway and the overland transport of ships remained unique in antiquity. By contrast, both the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf were relatively sheltered waters. In addition, the overland passage of the Isthmus, a neck of land wide at its narrowest, offered a much shorter route to Athens for ships sailing to and from the Ionian coast of Greece.

History

Ancient literature is silent on the date of the construction of the Diolkos. For Thucydides (460 BC–395 BC) the Diolkos already seemed to be something ancient. Excavated letters and associated pottery found at the site indicate a construction date at the end of the 7th or beginning of the 6th century BC, that is around the time when Periander was tyrant of Corinth. The Diolkos remained reportedly in regular service until at least the middle of the 1st century AD, after which no more written references appear. Possibly the trackway was put out of use by Nero's abortive canal works in AD 67. Much later transports of warships across the Isthmus in the late 9th century and around 1150 are assumed to have used a route other than the Diolkos due to the extensive time lag.

Role in warfare

The Diolkos played an important role in ancient naval warfare. Greek historians note several occasions from the 5th to the 1st century BC when warships were hauled across the Isthmus in order to speed up naval campaigning. In 428 BC, the Spartans planned to transport their warships over the Diolkos to the Saronic Gulf to threaten Athens, while later in the Peloponnesian War, in 411 BC, they carted over a squadron heading quickly for operations at Chios. In 220 BC, Demetrius of Pharos had a fleet of about fifty vessels dragged across the Isthmus to the Bay of Corinth by his men. Three years later, a Macedonian fleet of 38 vessels was sent across by Philip V, while the larger warships sailed around Cape Malea. After his victory at Actium in 31 BC, Octavian advanced as fast as possible against Marc Antony by ordering part of his 260 Liburnians to be carried over the Isthmus. In AD 868, the Byzantine admiral Niketas Oryphas had his whole fleet of one hundred dromons dragged across the Isthmus in a quickly executed operation, but this took place most likely on a different route.

Role in commerce

Despite the frequent mentioning of the Diolkos in connection with military operations, modern scholarship assumes that the prime purpose of the trackway must have been the transport of cargo, considering that warships cannot have needed transporting very often, and ancient historiography was always more interested in war than commerce. Comments by Pliny the Elder and Strabo, which described the Diolkos as being in regular service during times of peace, also imply a commercial use of the trackway. Coinciding with the rise of monumental architecture in Greece, the construction of the Diolkos may have initially served particularly for transporting heavy goods like marble, monoliths and timber to points west and east. It is not known what tolls Corinth could extract from the Diolkos on its territory, but the fact that the trackway was used and maintained long after its construction indicates that it remained for merchant ships an attractive alternative to the trip around Cape Malea for much of antiquity.

Structure

Course

The Diolkos ran across the narrowest part of the Isthmus, where the trackway followed the local topography in a curved course in order to avoid steeper gradients. The roadway passed the Isthmus ridge at c. height with an average gradient of 1:70, Its total length is estimated at 6–7 km (3.7–4.3 mi), depending on the number of supposed bends taken into account. A total of has been archaeologically traced, mainly at its western end close to the Bay of Corinth. From there on, the Diolkos either followed in a straight line the course of the modern canal, or swung south in a wide arc. The roadway ended at the Saronic Gulf at the village Schoinos, modern-day Kalamaki, described by Strabo as the trackway's eastern terminal.

Track and transport

The Diolkos was a trackway paved with hard limestone The roadway was wide. Either vessel and cargo were hauled across on separate vehicles, or only the cargo was taken across and reloaded on a different ship at the other side of the Isthmus. Although a technical analysis has shown that the transport of triremes (25 t, long, beam), albeit difficult, was technically feasible, it is assumed that the vessels were usually boats rather than ships. To prevent the danger of damaging the keel during transport, ''hypozomata'', thick ropes running from bow to stern meant to reduce sagging and hogging of the hull, must have been used. Ship and cargo were presumably pulled by men and animals with the help of ropes, tackles and possibly also capstans.

The scientist Tolley aimed at establishing the manpower which was necessary for hauling the vessels over the isthmus ridge. Assuming that a trireme soaked with water weighed 38 t including its trolley, and that a man can exert a force of 300 N over an extended period of time, the pulling teams—depending on the slope and the surface of the cat track—must have numbered between 112 and 142 people, with a combined exertion of force of 33.5 to 42.5 kN. Bringing the trolley up to speed may have required as many as 180 men. With a 2-kilometre-per-hour speed over an estimated length of 6 kilometres, the transfer process from sea-to-sea would have thus taken three hours to complete.

Assuming less load and rolling friction, Raepsaet, in contrast, calculates a maximum pulling force of 27 kN, which would have resulted in a significantly smaller towing crew. Under these circumstances, the use of harnessed oxen—which has been refuted by Tolley on the basis of their relatively diminished pulling capabilities— would have become feasible. However, the necessary expenditure of energy at the Diolkos must be regarded in both scenarios as considerable. Measuring between and , remaining in regular and frequent service for at least 650 years, and being open to all on payment, it constituted even a public railway, a concept which according to Lewis did not recur until c. 1800. Also, its average gauge of around those in the western section are interpreted by some authors as a result of wear or do not appear at all. On the other hand, the marked cambers of this road section may point at deliberate tracks as well.

Modern exploration

The chief engineer of the Corinth Canal, Béla Gerster, conducted extensive research on the topography of the Isthmus, but did not discover the Diolkos. Remains of the ship trackway were probably first identified by the German archaeologist Habbo Gerhard Lolling in the 1883 Baedeker edition. In 1913, J.G. Frazer reported in his commentary of Pausanias on traces of an ancient trackway across the Isthmus, while parts of the western quay were discovered by Harold North Fowler in 1932. which uncovered a nearly continuous stretch of and traced about in all. Additional investigations ''in situ'', meant to complement Verdelis’ work, were later published by Georges Raepsaet and Walter Werner.

Today, erosion caused by ship movements on the nearby Canal has left considerable portions of the Diolkos in demolition, particularly at its excavated western end. Critics who blame the Greek Ministry of Culture for continued inactivity have launched a petition for saving and restoring the registered archaeological site.

Ancient sources

The following ancient writers mention the transfer of ships across the Isthmus (in chronological order):

Thucydides 3.15.1, 8.7, 8.8.3–4

Aristophanes, ''Thesmophoriazusae'' 647–648

Polybius 4.19.7–9 [318], 5.101.4 [484], frag. 162 (ed. M. Buettner-Wolst)

Livy 42.16.6

Strabo 8.2.1 [C.335], 8.6.22 [C.380], 8.6.4 [C.369]

Pliny the Elder, ''Natural History'', 4.9–11, 18.18

Cassius Dio 51.5

Hesychius (ed. Schmidt, I, p. 516.80)

Suidas 2.92

George Sphrantzes 1.33

al-Idrisi (Joubert, P.A.: ''Géographie d'Édrisi'' 2, Paris 1840, p. 123)

Other ship trackways

Apart from the Diolkos at Corinth, there is scant literary evidence for two more ship trackways by that name in antiquity, both in Roman Egypt: The physician Oribasius (c. 320–400 AD) records two passages from his 1st century AD colleague Xenocrates, in which the latter casually refers to a ''diolkos'' close to the harbor of Alexandria which may have been located at the southern tip of the island of Pharos. Another ''diolkos'' is mentioned by Ptolemy (90–168 AD) in his book on geography (IV, 5, 10) as connecting a false mouth of a partly silted up Nile branch with the Mediterranean Sea. Neither Xenocrates nor Ptolemy offers any details on his trackway.

See also

Ancient Greek technology

Architecture of ancient Greece

History of rail transport

Timeline of railway history

Footnotes

References

External links

Article on Corinth Canal (including photos and map)

Article on Diolkos on City of Loutraki site (including photo)

Petition for saving and restoring the ancient Diolkos

Category:Ancient Greek buildings and structures Category:Ancient Greek sites in Greece Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece Category:Roman sites in Greece Category:Portages Category:Trackways in Greece Category:Roman archaeological sites in Greece Category:Archaeological sites in the Peloponnese Category:History of rail transport in Greece Category:Ancient Greek technology Category:Transport in Ancient Greece

bg:Диолк cs:Diolkos de:Diolkos es:Diolkos fr:Diolkos it:Diolkos he:דיולקוס no:Diolkos ru:Диолк

Coordinates	30°19′10″N81°39′36″N
{{infobox album | name	The Platform | Type Album | Artist Dilated Peoples | Cover DilatedPeoplesThePlatform.jpg | Released May 23, 2000 | Recorded | Genre Hip Hop Length 64:20 | Label Capitol | Producer Dilated Peoples, Alchemist, T-Ray, E-Swift, Joey Chavez, Beni-B, Kut Masta Kurt | Last album | This album ''The Platform''(2000) | Next album ''Expansion Team''(2001) | }}

''The Platform'' is the debut album of the West Coast hip hop group Dilated Peoples. It was released in 2000 under the Capitol Records label, and represents a movement of several California underground hip hop artists away from the violence and misogyny of gangsta rap, towards a more traditional, conscious form of rap.

Track listing

{{tracklist | extra_column = Producer(s) | title1 = So May I Introduce to You (Interlude) | note1 = | extra1 = ^{Dilated Peoples | length1 = 0:48 | title2 = The Platform | note2 = | extra2 = The Alchemist | length2 = 4:37 | title3 = No Retreat | note3 = feat. B-Real | extra3 = T-Ray | length3 = 5:21 | title4 = Guaranteed | note4 = | extra4 = The Alchemist | length4 = 3:52 | title5 = Right On | note5 = feat. Tha Alkaholiks | extra5 = E-Swift | length5 = 4:56 | title6 = The Main Event | note6 = | extra6 = The Alchemist | length6 = 2:34 | title7 = Service | note7 = | extra7 = DJ Babu | length7 = 3:16 | title8 = Ear Drums Pop | note8 = | extra8 = Evidence | length8 = 4:08 | title9 = Years In The Making | note9 = | extra9 = Joey Chavez | length9 = 3:11 | title10 = Annihilation | note10 = | extra10 = The Alchemist | length10 = 3:58 | title11 = Expanding Man | note11 = | extra11 = Evidence | length11 = 2:52 | title12 = The Last Line of Defense | note12 = | extra12 = The Alchemist | length12 = 4:42 | title13 = Triple Optics | note13 = | extra13 = Evidence, Beni-B | length13 = 4:14 | title14 = The Shape of Things to Come | note14 = feat. Aceyalone | extra14 = Evidence, Joey Chavez | length14 = 5:04 | title15 = Work The Angles | note15 = | extra15 = Kut Masta Kurt | length15 = 4:01 | title16 = Ear Drums Pop (Remix) | note16 = feat. Defari, Phil Da Agony, Everlast, Planet Asia | extra16 = Joey Chavez | length16 = 5:05}

}}

Samples

"So May I Introduce to You (Interlude)"

*"Put Your Hand In the Hand" by Ocean

*"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by Bill Cosby

"The Platform"

*"Crane" by Dominic Frontiere

"No Retreat"

*"Flower Pot" by Loadstone

"Guaranteed"

*"Impeach the President" by The Honeydrippers

*"I Can't Please You" by Loading Zone

"Right On"

*"Memoirs of the Traveler" by The Jaggerz

"Service"

*"Soul Lady" by Don Sebesky

*"At The Fair" by The Counts

"Ear Drums Pop"

*"La Ballata Di Hank McCain (The Ballad of Hank McCain)" by Ennio Morricone

"Expanding Man"

*"Busy Aggregation" by Johnny Pearson

"The Last Line of Defense"

*"Is Anyone There?" by Hookfoot

"Triple Optics"

*"Funky to the Bone" by Freddi/Henchi and the Soulsetters

*"Light My Life" by Tammi Lynn

"Work The Angles"

*"The Big Boss" by Joseph Koo and Wang Fu Ling

*"Resolution" by Mahavishnu Orchestra

Chart performance

!Chart (2000)	!Peakposition
Billboard 200
Top R&B;/Hip Hop Albums

Singles

!Year	!Song	Hot Rap Tracks>Hot Rap Singles
2000	"No Retreat"
2000	"The Platform"

References

Category:2000 albums Category:Debut albums Category:Dilated Peoples albums Category:Albums produced by Evidence Category:Albums produced by E-Swift Category:Albums produced by The Alchemist Category:Capitol Records albums

it:The Platform